Device for and method of protecting hog-carcass tongues



N Ov. 28, 1939. R. 1 GUNDERSON l 2,181,370

DEVICE FOR AND METHOD OF PROTECTING HOG-CARCASS TONGUES Filed Fb. 42s,1957 2 sheets-sheet 1 Nov. 28, 1939. R. J. GUNDERSON DEVICE FOR ANDMETHOD 0F PROTECTlNG HOG-CARCASS TONGUES 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Feb. 23,1957 Patented Nov. 28, 1939 n, fUNlTEusrrEs PATENT 'OFFICE' DEVICE FOR.AND IMETHOD OF PROTECTIN HOG-CARCASS TONGUES Reuben J. Gunderson,Chicago, Ill. .Application February 2s, 1937, serial No. 127,059

9 Claims.

The invention relates to the protection of the tongues of hog carcassesduring the machine dehairing operationV .following the sticking orslaughtering step.

51 In machine dehairing a hog the carcass is subjected to severe beatingwhich frequentlyr displaces the tongue and causes it to be mutilated orpunctured by the teeth. Any such mutilation requires removal of themutilated or punctured por- 10; tion of the tongue to avoidcontamination and reduces the value of theftongue as a food product. Ithas heretofore been proposed, to use a sheathlike protector envelopingthe loose portion of the tongue to prevent mutilation during the machinedehairing operation. Such a protector has proved in practice to beunsatisfactory on account of the failure of the protector to remain inits proper place in the mouth Aof the hog during the beating to whichthe-carcass is subjected in connection with the dehairing. operation,and also on account ofthe labor and dimculty involved. in the insertionof the protector in, and its removal from, the mouth of the hog.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a tongue protectordevice which will not be displaced. from the mouth of the hog during themachine dehairing operation and is so designed and constructed that itservesl efficiently to protect the tongue against mutilation. In generalthis device comprises a plurality of resilient arms which serve to holdthe tongue within the teeth of the lower jaw. of the carcass and areadapted to be interposed between the top of the tongue and the roof andsides of the mouth of the hog,

as contra-distinguished from around or in enveloping relation with thetongue. When the tongue is confined in, and pressed into,v the lower jawof the hog and retainedv by resiliency or spring pressure, it will beeffectively held. against displacement by the beaters of the dehairingmachine. The device as the result of its design and constructionvpermits of ready placement within, and removal from, the mouth of thehog carcass and thus effects a saving of labor.

Other objects of' the invention are to provide: an` improved protectordevice which comprises resilient arms or members adapted to expand inthe jaw, and to conne the tongue in the lower jaw against displacement;and a protector which 5 0;- is eicient in operation and can bemanufactured at a low and reasonable cost.

Additional objects of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following detailed description.

5.5;y The invention consists inthe severalnovel fea- (Cl. I7-1) tureswhich are hereinafter set forth and are more particularlydened by claimsat the conclusion hereof. In the drawings which accompany and form apart of this specification or disclosure and in l5; which like numeralsof reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a side elevation showing a tongue protector device embodyingthe invention in its operative position in the mouth of a carcass; 10;

Figure 2 is a section onthe line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective of the protector device after removal from themouth ofthe hog carcass;

Figure 4 is a vertical section illustrating a tool l5'. for use invinserting the protector into the mouth of the hog', in readinessv torelease the protector device so it will spring into itsv operativeposition; and

Figure 5 is a horizontal section illustrating the 2.07, tool after theprotector device has been released and has sprung into operativeposition.

'I'he improved protector device is preferably made of two U-shaped atspring-metal strips a and b which form arms or members adapted to 2.5`expandV automatically in the mouth of the hog so they will be securedtherein against displacement and press the tongue into-and confine it inthe 'lower jaw. The medial portions of the strips are crossed andsecuredv together, as by welding, 30l at their crossing.'4 The arms ormembers on one strip are adapted to be expanded and contracted in aplane substantially at right angles tothe arms of the other strip. y 1

The strip a comprises two divergent lower and upper arms or mem-bers 8and 9 which are normally held apart or in expanded. relationfby theinherent resiliency ofthe strip. Arm or lmember v 8 is adapted tooverlieand press directly against the tongue of the hog-carcass` and arm ormember 4m 9T` is provided at itst freeend with upturned or bent teeth lfor engaging the soft formation at the back of they roof of the mouth ofthe hogv toprevent-displaoement of said'member. When the protector. hasbeen placed in' its operative'45, position inthe mouth of Vthe carcass,Vthe free ends -of arms 8 and:Y 9 will be ilexed and pressed together, asillustrated' in Fig. 1, sufficiently to cause arm 8 to exert a veryrmpressure on the top of the tongue and confine the latter in the 5,0;`

I3 at their free ends, to enter and engage the inner sides of the cheeksoi the carcass. Normally, the free ends of arms or members Il and I2 arespread apart suciently so that when they are compressed to engage thecheeks they will be under suii'icient spring pressure or compression tocause the teeth on their free ends to remain embedded in the cheeks andaid in securing the protector against displacement. The arms or membersIl and I2, when secured in the mouth of the hog, are forwardlyconvergent at the crossing of the strips cv and b and serve to securethe upper and lower arms or member 8 and 9 against lateral displacementand to aid in holding the protector against displacement.

The protector constitutes a resilient device which is adapted to beplaced in the hogs mouth over the top of the tongue and which will beunder sufficient pressure, when in the mouth of the carcass, to connecompletely and firmly the tongue against displacement in the lower jawand to secure the protector against displacement from the mouth. Theopposed upper and lower arms 8 and 9 will provide the desired pressureto hold'the tongue in the lower jaw and the opposed laterally compressedarms or members I8 and Il coact with the upper arm 9 to secure theprotector against displacement from the mouth of the hog during thebeating of the hog carcass in the dehairing operation.

In practice, it has been found that a protector device composed ofresilient or spring arms whereby the tongue will be pressed into andconiined in the lower jaw, and secured against displacement, willefectively protect the tongue because the blows imparted to the carcasswhile it is being dehaired will not cause the springpressed members tolose their grip in the upper jaw and the cheeks.

In order to facilitate placement of the resilient protector device inthe mouth of the hog carcass a tool like that shown in Figures 4 and 5is provided. This tool is adapted to press or flex together theresilient arms or members of the protector device while they are beinginserted into the mouth of the hog and to release them in such mann-erthat they will spring outwardly into their operative position. As shownin the drawings, the tool comprises a hollow cylindrical body I6 with ahandle I1; a barrel I8 slidably fitted around the outside of the bodyI6; a plunger I9 slidable in the bore of the body I6 and connected tothe barrel I8 by a cross-pin 20 which extends through longitudinal slots2l in body I6; a spring 22 for retracting the barrel I8 interposedbetween the closed outer end 23 of body I5 and plunger I9; and aspring-pressed trigger 24 which is adapted to lock the plunger I9 andthe barrel I8 in its extended or operative position, as shown in Fig. 4,at which time the outer end of the barrel I8 projects beyond the closedend 23 of body I6 sufficiently to receive and retain the arms 8, 9, IIand I2 in compressed or contracted relation for insertion into the mouthof the hog.

The method of inserting the protector consists in pulling the barrel I8outwardly against the force of spring 22 so that the barrel is locked inits extended position by trigger 24, the plunger I9 being simultaneouslypulled outwardly and compressing the spring 22 which is adapted toretract the barrel; inserting the small end of the resilient protectordevice into the barrel I8 until it strikes the closed end 23 of body I6which will :liex and spring all of the arms 8, 9, II and I2 together andcause them to be automatically retained in the barrel, as illustrated inFig. 4, with their free ends close together for easy insertion into therear portion of the mouth of the hog; inserting the protector device andbarrel I8 into the mouth of the hog and bringing the free ends of theresilient arms into position to snap, when released, into operativeposition; and pulling the trigger 24 so that plunger I9 will be releasedand barrel I8 and the plunger will be shot by spring 22 to withdraw theextended portion of the barrel from the mouth of the hog, as shown inFig. 5.

As the spring-arms of the protector device are released by the barrel,they will snap outwardly and spread apart. 'Ihe arm 8 will be firmlypressed against the top of the tongue and arm 9 will be pressed upwardlyso its teeth IIJ will dig into the soft portion at the top and back ofthe mouth. Arms Il and I2 will be spread and pressed laterally so theirteeth I3 will dig into the cheeks of the hog and, thereupon, theprotector will be automatically and securely held in the mouth of thehog, and will hold the tongue firmly seated within the lower jaw so itcannot escape or pass between the hogs teeth with sufficient pressureeffectively to prevent the protector device from being displaced fromthe mouth while thc carcass is passing through the dehairing machine.Aft-er the hog has been dehaired, the protector can be easily removed bypressing the members together sufficiently to release the teeth I0 andI3 from the mouth and the cheeks and withdrawing the protector devicefrom the mouth.

The invention exempliiies a protector device for the tongue of a hogcarcass while it is being dehaired, which effectively prevents themutilation or puncturing of the tongue and is simple and can be readilyinserted and removed. The invention also exemplifies a tool whichexpedites the placement of the protector in its operative position.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tongue protector comprising a pair of expansible arms adapted to bepressed together and placed in the mouth of a carcass between the tongueand the top of the mouth and operating, when so placed and thenreleased, to spring apart vertically and hold the tongue against thelower jaw, and a pair of laterally expansible arms connected to thefirst mentioned arms and adapted tol be pressed together in connectionwith placement of said iirst mentioned arms in the mouth of said carcassand upon release thereof to engage the sides' of the mouth and hold theprotector in place.

2. A tongue protector comprising a pair of rearwardly divergentexpansible arms adapted to be pressed together and inserted into themouth of a carcass and arranged in such manner that upon release thereofone is adapted to overlie and press the tongue downwardly againstk thelower jaw and the other is adapted to engage the upper jaw, andrearwardly divergent, laterally expansible arms for engaging the sidesof the mouth of the carcass and holding the first mentioned arms inplace.

3. VA tongue protector comprising a one-piece,

U-shaped spring-strip adapted. to be vvinserted while in a compressedcondition into the mouth of a carcass and then released, consisting of alower spring-arm for pressing the tongue downwardly against the lowerjaw and an upper arm adapted to press against and engage the upper jaw,and means connected to the central portion of the spring-strip forholding the strip-formed arms in place.

4. A protector of the character described com.- prising a member forretaining they tongue of an animal carcass in the lower jaw and a pairof laterally eXpansible resilient strip formed arms having free endsadapted to engage yieldingly the sides of the mouth of the carcass andhaving portions connected together and to the member so that theyoperate when in their operative position to hold said member in place.

5. A tongue protector comprising a pair of spring-arms for pressing thetongue of a carcass downwardly and retaining it against thev lower jaw,and a pair of laterally expansible resilient arms having their free endsadapted to engage the sides of the mouth of said carcass and hold thefirst' mentioned arms in place, the front portions of said arms beingall joined together.

6. That improvement in slaughteringhogs which consists in contracting anexpansible tongue protector, inserting the contracted pro tector intothe mouth of a hog carcass between the top of the tongue and the roof ofthe mouth,

and releasing the protector to cause it to expand lower jaw, and aplurality ofl divergent spring arms for holding the member in placeadapted to be pressed toward one another upon insertion ofthe deviceinto the carcass mouth and arranged and designed so that upon releasethereof one of them is adapted to engage the top of the mouth andanother is adapted to engage one side of the mouth. t

8. A device for protecting the tongue of a hog carcass. againstmutilation during machine de hairing of the carcass, comprising armemberr carcass against mutilation during machine dehairing of thecarcass, comprising a member adapted to engage the tongue and hold it inthe lower jaw, and a plurality of rearwardly diver-` gent spring armsfor holding the member in place having the front ends thereof connectedinto the mouth of the carcass and upon release thereof to expandorspring outwards in such manner that one of them engages the top of themouth and others engage the mouth sides.

REUBEN J. GUNDERSON.

.to the front portion of the member and having their rear ends free andprovided with out-turned. teeth and adapted to be pressed toward onean-v other in connection with insertion of the device

